Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace / Calumet 14 Year Single Rack Black Bourbon

0:00 In 1999, director George Lucas and star Liam Neeson gave the world a stunning new entry into a Galaxy we all longed to return to. And 10 years later everybody lost their crap and decided they hated it, even though when it came out it had mixed to solid reviews, even getting a 3 1/2 stars from fame movie credited Rodger Ebert. But I digress. In 2024 we try a rare whiskey from a non distilling producer. The film is Star Wars Episode One, The Phantom Menace. The whiskey is Calumet 14 year Single Rack Black Label. And we'll review them both. This is the Fill in Whiskey Podcast.

0:59 Welcome to the Film and Whiskey Podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G. And I suppose it's that time, Brad. Bob, I am so excited for this episode. Can I can I ask one question, Brad? You can ask as many questions as you want, Bob. Why? Why are you excited for this episode, Brad? 'Cause I love this movie, Robert. Folks, today we are reluctantly, some of us are reluctantly diving back into the world of Star Wars for the first of what seems like, I don't know, eight more times this season, we are dipping our toes in George Lucas's pool. And folks, I don't know what temperature the water is, and it seems to agree with Brad, but it's a little too a little too cold for my taste.

1:52 It's a beautiful like 104° Jacuzzi. Just chilling. Is that is that what you really wanted to just chill in a Jacuzzi with George Lucas? Yes. I would kill to do that, Bob. That would be so much fun. Just have a beer with George Lucas. Brad, I have been thinking about this episode for a minute now because I watched this movie, I don't know, 5-6 days ago. I've had a good long time to sit and reminisce and ruminate and. When's the last time you watched it? Five or six days ago. Before that. I watched it during COVID. I I watched all the Star Wars movies again during COVID because like with some of the other classic films in in the American catalog, I don't like them that much.

2:39 And I keep thinking that you know everyone likes these so it's got to be something wrong with me and maybe that thing will will reverse itself someday. And so I keep trying it's like with 2001, I keep trying and alas Brad I am I am just allergic to the the Star Wars. So I've been thinking about this for a long time and I think Brad what I would like to do today with your permission is I would like to reverse our rules today. Not in terms of like I'm not going to do Brad explains or anything like that. But I'm very aware that I talk a lot, Brad, and I think that the the split of talking on our podcast instead of being 5050, it's it's like 6535, like I talk much more than you I.

3:24 Think it's more like a 67? Yeah, I was going to say 7030, but like you know, I I'm trying to temper expectations a bit. I do that because I feel very passionately about the movies we talk about and I frankly am not that passionate about this movie. Now I I will also say up front, I'm not coming into this as begrudgingly as I thought I would. I think there's a lot to like in this movie and I don't feel antagonistic towards it. I also don't feel ambivalent towards it, like I'm ready to talk about the movie. I just, when I look at my list of notes, if I was leading the discussion today, Brad, I think this episode would be about 35 minutes long, 'cause I just, it's one of those things that I don't really know where to go with this. And you as a guy who's super passionate about the movie, I think can guide us through the film a lot better than I can. So if if you're feeling up to it, and I'd like to kind of turn this episode over to you to be our our guide, you can be our Virgil guiding us through the layers of hell that is the prequel trilogy.

4:28 Here, here's the thing, Bob. This is, this is going to blow your mind. Why? Why? We're ready for this role reversal. I have a page of notes. A whole page. And and that's a first. You did it, man. You you wrote a one page document. I did. Now when I say one page it is like you know like the Amazon notepads that are that are like. Like a 5 by 7. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, sure. It's one of those. Pages. I thought you were going to say You typed it in like 18 point Comic Sans do. You remember in college when like a professor would be like you can have one note card of a cheap note card and people would like print whatever, whatever they are like a 5 by 7 note card and they would print in like size 6 font every fact from the entire semester.

5:17 Is that what you did here? No. First off, I would walk into those tests without a note card, because who has time to make a cheat note card? Just be smart. Come on. Secondly, I don't. I don't need much preparation to defend a movie like this, but I just was so excited to talk about it that I had to write things down. You know what? And like, again, I'm not going to be snarky with you about this movie today. Yeah. And I. Think I trust you, Bob. Like, I think the the, the weird place I'm in is that I thought that I was going to end up being in the Brad GI didn't really care for this movie and so I'm going to like tank the audio and I don't feel like that either.

6:00 Like it's it's fine. It's a fine movie with some really bad acting and some some pretty bad special effects at points and also some really great film making in some stretches too. So like, I, you know, I don't feel any any worse about this movie than I did talking about Independence Day or Armageddon or any like, there are things to appreciate here for sure, but you just have to lead me, your horse, to water to drink of them. Hey, I'll, I'll lead you to the waters I can't make you drink. And I'll say on my side of it, Bob, like the the prequels are a step down from the originals for me.

6:41 Not a not a massive step down just a just a small one. The the the sequels are a massive step down, but we we've already gone over that and we'll go over it at the end of the season. I think that my stance on the prequels has always been that they are incredibly fun. They're great film making. The sound design is light years ahead of its time, as were the originals. And the acting's not great. And I like. I think the same thing could be said for the originals, except for the fact that Harrison Ford is just beyond incredible. I think Mark Hamill is great. Carrie Fisher's great.

7:21 Like, there's just so many great actors and actresses in those films and you just don't quite get that as often in the prequels. But other than that, I I really love these movies. I'm not going to sit here and say it is the greatest movie of 1999. Like, like there there are other movies that were better movies in Star Wars Episode One. But man, the mixture of revisiting this film as an adult and appreciating how great of a film it is and having the nostalgia attached just has me real jazzed. Well, let's carry that jazz music and that jazz feeling into our next segment, our first segment of the day, which we call Brad explains.

8:01 Brad's going to give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds taken on the clock, so let's go ahead and hear your take with this little segment that we call. Brad explains. Brad Explains is the part of the podcast where Brad breaks down the plot of the movie that he has just seen. This time I'm going to say this is your, I don't know, 32nd time watching episode one. No. See, here's the thing, Bob. You watch movies 30 times legitimately. I've probably seen The Phantom Menace 8 times, maybe 10. So like. That is an extravagant number for you. For. Yeah, not for me, Bob. For the average person, anybody, any human being alive in America, the most they've probably ever seen. One movie is like 6 to 8 times.

8:52 I'm going to disagree. With you there, we don't need to get off on a tangent here. I'm definitely if we're on the bell curve, Brad. Like I'm definitely way far over on one. End in the 99th plus bro. I I think especially for people who grew up like we did in the era of Betamax, VHS or DVDs when they were the primary way to watch movies, when people had movies at home, they watched them a lot, dude. And I think that you just grew up in a in a household that didn't watch movies that often and so legitimately for you, 8 is a lot. But if you ask the average person, what's your favorite movie of all time? Or like how many times did you watch The Lion King on VHS when you were a kid?

9:33 Like 30 is on the low end for some kids, man. You know what I mean? Yeah, but does that really count? Watching it 30 times when you're 6 years old? Is is that an actual view? I guess, I guess you can't love things as a child, according to Brad. All right. Dude unable to. You have one minute on the clock to spoil this movie. You should be able to do it because you've seen it, as we've established 8 whole times. So Brad, the floor is yours, man, and go. The Phantom Menace is a film where the Trade Federation is controlled by Lord Palpatine of the Sith and they invade the peaceful planet of Naboo. Jedi's Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi attempt to negotiate, but are nearly killed in the process. They rescue Queen Amidala of the Naboo and go on an adventure to that detours onto the desert planet Tatooine. There they find and free a slave boy named Anakin and have an incredible pod race.

10:30 They continue on their way to the capital planet Croissant. There, Amidala pleads her case before the Senate realizes it is pointless and flies back to Naboo, enlisting aid from unexpected quarters to defeat the Trade Federation. Did you write this down? This sounds written. I did, yeah. I was going to. Say that was that was so much more eloquent than what we normally get and here's here's how I know that is because usually you start I can hear you collecting your thoughts. I can hear inside of your brain because you always start with Armageddon is a film about such and such and I always think it's so funny dude. I just like We are on a podcast called Film and Whiskey, if there is one, given it is that you watched a film. We know, buddy.

11:15 I still started with that. That's true. I mean, I think you're just honoring a time tested tradition at this point of. Course I am. Yeah. I mean, I will say this is one of those movies that either I was going to give a really esoteric like 12 seconds or I was going to hit the 67 second mark and get bogged down in the details and I I wanted to strike a nice balance. Now, is it because this movie is so bad that you had to affirm that it is in fact a film? No, The Phantom Menace is, for the record, a film. Fun fact, as you just said, I've said that for every single movie we've ever reviewed. So no, it's not the fact that it's quote UN quote a bad film. All right, man, let's jump into talking about the movie, and I'm going to hand it over to you.

12:05 I'm going to sit back and rest on my laurels here. I want us to, I want to talk about the characters, Bob, because I I think that the acting is not great on a lot of different levels accurate, I think. I think that Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson are both stellar in their acting. I think that Natalie Portman is like AB minus. She's like pretty solid in certain points and then she kneels down to to to boss Nas and goes, no I beg you and I'm like George, couldn't we have taken like any other take of that and put that in the film?

12:49 But overall, I think Natalie Portman is solid. Jake Lloyd is terrible. Could could we just agree on that and leave it, leave it be? Yeah, we can agree on that. I I truly, truly regret and and abhor the treatment of him that led to him having some mental health issues and everything. Like don't don't give child actors so much crap. People like it's OK to admit now with some distance. Like, no, it's not good. Yeah, but like, he's just a kid, man. What do you want? Yeah, yeah. And at that point, it's George Lucas for choosing him and maybe even for, like, for directing. Not. Yeah, for directing him and not giving him the right notes and just the fact that, you know, maybe you get a few days into it and go, you know, this isn't quite working out. Yeah, like, let's, let's get. #2 and Haley Joel Osment off 6th Sense and bring.

13:39 Him over here. Oh dude. Yeah, Brad, I think one of my big not fears. But as a noted non Star Wars fan, and I don't consider myself a Star Wars hater, I'm just not like this is just not my thing that grabs me and causes me to nerd out. Not your cup of blue milk. Yes, drunk out of clearly plastic glasses. Like, where's the plastic production happening in this universe? In every Star Wars movie? It's like a Dollar Tree plastic cup. What are we doing here? OK, anyway, not my cup of tea. However, the prequels are always really interesting to me because I can never pin down with somebody like you who grew up with the prequels.

14:24 So this was like, these were your Star Wars movies. You know, the the original trilogy was kind of inherited, but these are the ones that came out when you were of the right age to start watching Star Wars. Well, here's the thing, though, about the originals. It's not like my parents passed them down to me. Like like one of my best friends in the world, Mike, he had like his parents passed Star Wars down to him. They love Star Wars, my parents. It was just like VH s s that we had. And when I was probably six or seven I I started watching them and I really liked them. And then The Phantom Menace came out and I went and I remember being scared of Darth Maul. And like I I liked it a lot and and then the second one came out, I liked it a lot. And then the third one came out and I skipped school and saw it and it was really cool because I was like what, 1516 at that point.

15:15 And it I think it was around there that my fandom really cemented itself. Because at that point I I'm playing Star Wars video games. I'm reading Star Wars books from the 80s and 90s that are just incredible. And I, you know, the movie is coming out and and I think that's kind of the era where it really got cemented for me. So my point was going to be I I wonder how hard it is. And I'm not accusing you of anything, but like, I wonder how hard it is to separate the prequels from the legacy of the original trilogy or even from the sort of like narrative, like shared narrative knowledge of the original trilogy. Like, we know who these people are because we've watched the other movies and these are prequels.

15:58 And so every time there's like a fan servicing thing of Qui Gon first being like now, now Obi Wan Kenobi, and I can just hear an audience in 99 going like he's the guy from the movie. You know what I mean? Yes, exactly. I want to talk about this movie as much as it is indebted to those other movies. I want to talk about it in a vacuum because I think that this is where Lucas's writing and directing really suffer sometimes. I think he relies a lot on your prior knowledge of these people. And sometimes that's an OK thing to do. You don't have to give tons of back story because A this is the back story and and B like you just make passing nods at certain characters and that's fine.

16:44 But I I'm wondering, Brad, like do you, when you watch this movie, do you think of it as a piece of a big hole or do you evaluate it solely on like if this was the first Star Wars movie, would you think differently about it? You know what I mean? Yes, is the answer to your question. Like, I like, 'cause I I think that when you take, especially The Phantom Menace, like I think that there's two, sorry, 4 characters that we know from the later films. There's Anakin, there's Obi Wan, there's C3PO, and there's R2D2. Other than that, not a single character in this film. As best as I know, Star Wars fans, you can come at me. That's.

17:34 Fine. I mean the emperor. 'S somebody else? OK, sure. Yeah. The Emperor. So 5 characters that are known in the later films. Pretty much everybody else is not a known character. And so I I think it's easy to come into this and treat it in a vacuum to just say all right, like what do we have just here in this film? And that's where I I think you are off on the wrong foot already, Bob. I think that the writing in this film is great and not not necessarily the dialogue. Like as you have informed me many times, like the script is not just the dialogue, it's everything that goes into this movie. I actually think that the story here is really well done and the characters are are really interesting and they they flesh each other out in really fascinating ways.

18:26 All right. So I am going to disagree with you a little bit. Yeah, man. It's so weird being not in the driver's seat of how these conversations go. Brad, I'm in the Brad G role today. Yeah. So here's what I'm thinking about the writing of this movie, like we've both established the dialogue is not great. We'll get around to examples of how it's not great. That's fine. There are great moments though. Oh for sure, for sure, when Qui Gon goes. The ability to speak does not make one intelligent. It's it is one of the most priceless lines I think I've ever heard in a movie. When we did episode three, I think you were kind of shocked by how much I appreciated the grand overarching narrative of the the prequels.

19:10 I think that like taken as one huge meta story, it's really cool what George Lucas did here. Yeah, I think that it also kind of when it doesn't work like I think, you know, Episode one and Episode 2 are obviously weaker films than Episode 3. And so to some extent it works less well in both of those movies. And I think that when it's not working as well, it's almost to me like the story that these movies are telling is almost a more compelling Wikipedia article because you at least see what the broad strokes that are being painted are. And I think if this movie is the only thing you have to go on, you don't have prior knowledge of the the, you know, the original trilogy.

19:55 I think this movie's kind of a mess, like in terms of what the through line is. Because you know, even if you look at the Wikipedia on this movie, Lucas says that he's trying to tell 5 separate narrative threads, but it's not that they're intertwined with each other. They like are supposed to logically flow from each other. And the big main overarching thread of episode one, according to Lucas, is Palpatine's power play here. Which is fine and which is good. I just think that like if Palpatine is kind of the quote UN quote main character here we need to see a little bit more of his wheelings and dealings. I think you need to just like abandoned the the ruse that we don't know that he is palpate like they even to the end of the film they're still shrouding him in shadow.

20:40 Like we don't know it's the same guy And the audience is one step ahead of where Lucas thinks the audience is or or will allow the audience to go because he's like I need to save that for the 2nd movie or the third movie or whatever it might be. The characters themselves are interesting characters, but the choices that he makes in terms of who to develop and how much to develop each of those characters, I think that the calculus is just a little bit off here. It's it's hard for me to fault Lucas for like narratively choosing not to reveal Palpatine earlier like because he knew he was making multiple films like like I'm With You and like let's evaluate this film on its own merits.

21:30 But part of its own merits are that it was made to be part of a trilogy. Sure. And and so I like for me I think it's this is going to sound like a Marvel defense but like that's kind of part of the appeal of the the prequel trilogy is that you get to see this story through all three films And so the the Palpatine of it all like pretty much everybody knew that like that you know Palpatine, Sidious, they're they're all the same person even as you're watching it. And so I I think it's to me it makes it much more sinister of an antagonist that like he is behind the scenes, he's showing up in one form to the Trade Federation and showing up in a different form to the Senate, and he is getting all of his enemies to attack each other and weaken each other. And then he doesn't come in and destroy them all. He comes in as the hero to save them all. And and again, like I I think that's a really great touch. I think the the decision though to keep showing the, you know, the Darth Sidious side of things as like a hooded figure who just happens to have the same chin and mouth as this other guy that has the same voice.

22:50 Like have a scene where we see him say like, OK, see you later, Amidala. And then turn around and put his hood up and a hologram pops up of the Trade Federation guys. And then you, you know, like we know the reveal that Lucas doesn't actually show us. And and I'm thinking of like, you know, Lord of the Rings in in the Fellowship, the second you see Christopher Lee come on screen, you're like that mother the bad guy. Like look at him, do you know what I mean? Like, even. But even before he gets revealed as the bad guy, it's like, you know what's coming here, but you still need that turn for the audience's sake, for the character's sake. And even if he doesn't want to reveal to the characters within the film that this is the bad guy.

23:34 I just, like, I just kept wondering, like, why are you still doing this whole thing at the end of the movie? Because we're we're we know already, George. Yeah, but like, wouldn't that be too much telling and not enough showing? I mean it. They took him on in the first movie and he lasted through three movies, 2 1/2, you know what I mean? Sure, but I don't know this. This doesn't feel like a sticking point for me. Like to me it's a I think that this is Lucas doing a great job of show. Don't tell. Like he shows you that he is the villain. He doesn't tell you that he's the villain. And like look at the character of Darth Maul. Darth Maul is one of the best written characters in the entire Star Wars universe because he is set up as the embodiment of evil.

24:23 Like, tell me you didn't see him as a 10 year old child. Oh, he's you know. That is a pure demon. Not like he is. But here's the thing, man. Like the character design, the makeup, the lighting, like all of the all of the film making things that aren't on the page are what makes him a good character, though, Like, 'cause as an adult, you go back and watch this movie and you're like, oh, this dude's in the movie for four minutes and 12 seconds. And like, yeah, and I feel kind of cheated out of what should have been a character that lasted many films because he is such an he looks different than any character I've ever seen in Star Wars And he's like he sounds so intelligent and his like he has the coolest lightsaber I've ever seen. He is clearly the equal of these guys in terms of fighting with the lightsabers.

25:11 Like I don't think Lucas wrote a great character here. Brad, I think he's, I think he's the most underwritten of all characters in this movie. But that's the beauty of the character. He has all of those things, and he is a pawn insidious's game. Like, like, that's the beauty of Darth Maul. He represents everything that the Jedi fear. He's terrifying. He's a demon. He has incredible fighting capabilities. He's manipulative. And then at the end of the film, they ask, like, is he the master or is he The Apprentice? And they don't know the answer to that question, but we do, because Lucas has been showing us throughout that he is not the Master and it but it sets up for the characters within the universe this, this ambiguity that's really important to understand why the Jedi do the things that they do. You make a great point.

26:06 I'm just saying, give me 12 more minutes of him. I don't need him. You know, even if you say, OK, I'm going to kill him at the end of the first movie, though, cool. But like, let's have two more fight scenes. Like let's, you know, let's have three more lines of dialogue. I want to know this guy a little bit before you often. I I don't totally disagree with you. I would I would love to see more Darth Maul fighting. And like you know, Speaking of of fighting I I just saw Dune 2. Fun, fun fact in theatre. You're welcome, Robert. What a great theatre going experience Dune 2 was. Yeah, I saw it in XD. I've I've been told that Dolby is the way to go.

26:47 So like XD is is Cinemark's answer to IMAX. It is a floor to ceiling screen and it is more widely available than IMAX and it's more affordable. And so I am a huge proponent of seeing stuff in XD. That's just an aside. Sorry. Yes, totally, Which is it's OK we we should do a bonus episode. Just talking about the specs of like movie theaters, I'm sure it would get so many downloads. I bring up Dune 2 to say that there's an incredible fight scene near the end of the movie that I wish we had something like that with Darth Maul. Like like the and not like an extra 1. But I wish that the middle fight scene when they're on Tatooine and Qui Gon fights him for like 30 seconds.

27:33 I wish that one was a little more developed. I think you could have spent a little more time there and it would have established him even more greatly as this threat. Yeah, totally agree, man. And I realized that we we were supposed to be talking about the characters in general. We probably should talk about the performances that go along with the characters, because otherwise I don't know that we'll ever get through the list of characters. We've we've spent like 12 minutes talking about two characters, Brad, So I don't know. You go ahead and introduce whoever you want to talk about, and let's just work down the list here. I want to talk about Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar Binks. Ahmed Best another person who just got like true like like Liam Neeson, talks about this in an interview where he's like I spent, you know, however many days on set with him. Liam Neeson literally called his agent and said I'm at Best is the next Eddie Murphy.

28:26 He is that funny and incredible to be around and just an awesome guy. And yeah, and Liam said he's like and I think his career kind of got ruined because of Star Wars and how he was treated. It absolutely did and and not OK Not OK. Same deal though with with Jake Lloyd man Jar Jar Binks that I will have none of the Jar Jar Binks revisionist history or or reclamation project. He is as bad as advertised, folks. Like, no, he's not the the. Character. He literally is not. The character is horrible. The writing is atrocious. It is. It is like if I could find the most annoying program for my 4 year old on Netflix. The writing for that and the repetitive idiotic nature of the noises that come out of that thing's mouth pale in comparison to Jar Jar Binks.

29:24 Like it is. It's like it is like nails on a chalkboard. The and The thing is like I don't fault the guy at all. I don't think the voice is very good. It doesn't sound super convincing but Lucas trying to do this weird like proto Jamaican Rastafarian thing coupled with like a broken form of English coupled with like all of the Gungans doing the like Brad, it's it's terrible. And they they all go on 45 seconds too long. You are you of all people are attuned to when you think a scene is going on too long. Every single time they interact with the Gungans, Brad, it is excruciatingly, horribly paced. That this is this is just a matter of preference, Bob, 'cause that that I think everything you just said is objectively false.

30:15 I don't. I don't know that you that you can evaluate this film without the lens of a guy that just loves everything. Star Wars, dude. Like it? No, see that? That's where I think you're completely wrong. I I don't just view this as a Star Wars fan watching this movie again. And I I watched it maybe a year and a half ago. So like watching it twice in the in the time of us doing this podcast, I've been able to watch it with an objective lens. And I look back on Jar Jar and I think that there are moments with him that are not great, where he's annoying and frustrating and silly. And the more time I spend with him, the more I think that that's kind of the purpose of the character.

31:00 Well, it sure it is. And I'm OK with that. Like the the whole the whole thing. With the end of the Ryan Johnson, one can't even think of the name of it right now. It's called The Last Jedi. What a garbage movie. The thing with The Last Jedi that a lot of people loved and were pumped about was like, oh, he's reintroducing this idea that anybody can be a Jedi and that anybody can have an impact on the universe. And then they come, the same people like you, They come and they all over Jar Jar. And I'm like, the entire purpose of Jar Jar is to say that even idiotic bumbling nobodies can have an impact. When they have a good heart, and when they are kind to the world around them, Brad, they can have an impact on the universe. And without Jar Jar, you don't have any of the end of the film. Like, like, listen, I'm not arguing with the function of the character.

32:00 Like, I know what he's there for. I know what he's supposed to be doing. He's his dialogue is awful, his character is grading and they let his scenes run too long. Like that has nothing to do with. It's not that I misunderstand, and I know he's supposed to be annoying, but you can still convey the the character's annoyance with him without pulling your audience completely out of the movie because of their own frustration with him. Like, I'm not alone here on on thinking that Jar Jar is a hindrance to the film. And I'm not alone in saying that that's just not the case for a lot of people who watch this movie. Sure I don't. You said people like you Bob, praise The Last Jedi and then shut on Jar Jar and and essentially because we don't understand the function of Jar Jar. First of all, this has nothing to do with The Last Jedi. And also like I I get Jar Jar.

32:51 I just I just don't think it's a well executed character. I think it is. Cool. But you don't have to say that. Like, you don't have to say that I'm too dumb to understand it because of that. Like, I I just, ah, man, we got to work through some characters here because that now I'm starting to get angry. I feel like I have been as generous as possible with your take on this movie versus my take on this movie. I would hope that you can be equally generous when we get to some of the later Star Wars films this season. Because brat, like, you know, I just don't think it's a controversial statement to say, like, yeah, I don't think Jar Jar works and I'm defending the guy who played him because I think Lucas did a poor job writing him.

33:33 But like I I guess I can't. I can't say that. I think that Jar Jar is a character who has been pooped upon too much, and I will defend him because I don't think he's the best character in this film, but I don't think that he's the worst. Let's do that. Who's the worst character in this film for you, Jake? Anakin. But as a character, not as a performance Like I'm talking like the the writing of the character itself, the dialogue. Within. Within the, yeah, within the world of the movie. Like who is not fleshed out enough who or who is like just an unnecessary character. Like who's the worst at accomplishing what this story wants it to accomplish?

34:13 Oh, that that's an interesting question. I've not thought about that question before. All right. So we've talked about Ahmed Best. We talked about Jake Lloyd, Justice for both of them. I I agree with you man. They have been crapped on too much. I think it's fair. And I think what I'm trying to say, Brad is like I I said this with the first Star Wars. I don't think George Lucas is good at directing actors because he's worked with some all time great actors and almost without fail the worst performance they've all ever turned in is when they were like performing with George Lucas. And I think it says a heck of a lot about the the charisma of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in particular that like they did not fall victim to this. Because even like Mace Windu in this movie though you could tell the directions that he was getting from Lucas, he comes across more, more as an hole than as like a a guy who knows more than he's letting on.

35:06 Where's, like, Yoda? Still, Yoda's like, oh, this dude knows something, but he's not. A Mace Windu is just kind of a smiffy. And I think, like, how do you mess up having Samuel L Jackson on set? How do you mess up Natalie Portman? Like it, You know? It's just it really surprises me that more people didn't say, you know what, Maybe like some of the problems we have with this movie rest on George Lucas's shoulders and we shouldn't take it out on this 10 year old kid. Sure. Yeah. No. And Bob, I've, I've always said to you that his weakest aspect of being a director is directing actors for sure like like that. I I've always said that that's his issue.

35:47 I just think that the characters he writes are not as poorly conceived or executed as people think. I think sometimes the acting isn't great, but the characters themselves I actually really think are well done and there's a lot more, there's so much more intent behind the characters and ability to advance the story that I I just I I think Lucas is really good at writing characters. You know what, I I will agree with you that I I I think there's like a confluence of things happening. I think it's the writing is kind of poor for especially for the dialogue with some of these characters. I think the direction is pretty bad and it leads to bad performances. And then the fourth thing is, I think sometimes this movie just could use a little bit of tightening up in the edit and it's not even like I'm not even advocating for a whole scenes to be cut out.

36:38 It's it's one of those movies where we note sometimes Brad that like there's a two second pause between the time that somebody finishes their line and then they cut to the character. And then you watch the character react and every line with Anakin's mom, whose name I believe is Shmi, but they don't actually say her name. Like I don't think at all in the movie, like Sis is not good in this movie. And I think it's not even necessarily because she's a bad actress, although I would not say she's a great actress. I think it's because every time Qui Gon says something to her, they cut to her and she mulls it over for like 4 seconds and then she reacts and then she says her line. Everything that happens before the pod race on Tatooine is like it. The movie slows down a lot, dude. And I I think it's all these things happening at the same time.

37:28 But I really do think that Lucas could have been bailed out a little bit if they just kind of tightened up the edit a bit. Sure. Yeah, there's definitely moments in the movie that drag. I I think that to answer your question from before I would say that Shmi is probably the poor the poorest written character that they they don't flesh out her relationship with Anakin enough and the there's not enough connection there like you you need some time to establish that mother son relationship that's so important and and there's moments like I I actually think the the one scene where she kind of shines is when she's telling Quagon about his birth and the the the chosen one nature of it all the Messiah nature. Like I think that that's actually a really solid scene between the two of them.

38:20 I agree. And also some weird some weird chemistry going. I was like, is Quagon? Oh dude, is Quagon getting some some booty while he's on tattooing? All I have to say is there is so much chemistry between her and Liam Neeson. It's wild. That's like, that's probably the thing that completely flew over my head as a kid that now as an adult I'm like, oh man. Oh, they were boating on this. Yeah, 100%, dude. I mean, listen, it's like a no harm, no foul situation. Like you're not getting her pregnant. The Force gets her pregnant. You're good, man. All right, Brad, I think we're, we're running a little long. Do you want to come back and kind of finish out the main cast and then go into the rest of our stuff, or do you want to knock it out right now real quick?

39:06 Let Let's knock out just a few more. What are your issues with Natalie Portman? Because I like her a lot in this, There's moments she's not great. I think Natalie Portman has grown into one of the best actresses working today. I think she's been in some incredible movies. She's an Oscar winner. I just don't think she was very good as a kid. And I just watched a movie for the first time about a month ago that she was in called The Professional, which is it's an IMDb Top 250. I just never seen it before. It came out in like 94, I think 95. And Natalie Portman's like the star of this movie. And I'm like, oh man, I expected her to be like grown up Natalie Portman in terms of how good she is as a kid actress. And she's just very much had the limitations of being a kid actor.

39:50 And that might just be me like reading, reading expectations back on to her when she wasn't as good. But this is, this is like that. But then also to your point, let's deliver every line in the most monotone way. And you know, and I just don't understand like the the accent when she's Amidala, like what what are we doing here? Like it's not explained. And I think it takes away from when she's, when she's acting as Padme, very naturalistic, really charming. I loved it a lot. But as soon as she puts that makeup back on, it's like, I do not care about you anymore. Yeah, I I think that that's I can see what Lucas was going for there. Like the the idea of a queen being regal and measured and in control of her emotions and like they very clearly lean into like like Japanese kind of kabuki tropes of like the way she presents herself and her costuming and things like that.

40:49 And so I think that there is an affect that is presented that that just doesn't totally work. I think within the world of the movie it it works. But I I would agree with you. It's honestly, it's not when she has the makeup on like the very opening scene that she's in, when she talks to the Trade Federation, she has that white makeup with the red dots on the cheeks. I actually think that the the demeanor and affect works really well when she is in full regalia. It's when she's the queen but she's not in full regalia that that I'm kind of like, OK, like give me a little bit of emotion like something and you know I'll go back to the line I said before when she, like, bows and she's like, we are asking you, no begging you.

41:36 And I'm like, OK, honey, like, sure, when you're talking to your enemies, the Trade Federation don't show any emotion. Totally makes sense when you're begging another military nation to come to your aid. Like, give me, give me a little something, just anything, right? And I think if I can steer us into OK, I don't even think we need to talk about Ewan McGregor because we have, we have talked about him before. He's great. He is absolved of all wrongdoing in this situation. Yes. I'm I'm really disappointed in Qui Gon Jinn and and it it breaks my heart to say it because from a character design standpoint, there are very few people who have ever looked cooler in Star Wars than Liam Neeson, as, like, he is the prototype for like, I want to watch a movie about this Jedi, 'cause he just looks like a guy I want to learn more about. And I think that's my thing is we don't actually learn much about him.

42:34 He's just like, he's he's the guy that is the seasoned vet. He's like, he's kind of on his way out. He's inching towards retirement it seems like here and like you don't. He's only really there to be, like, utilitarian, to serve the plot, to spout some exposition and to, like, negotiate over, you know, car parts for 1/2 hour. And like, I just wish we had more of what's going on inside Qui Gon's head. I love that he wants to, he wants to buck the trends and like, you know, resist the orders of the jet, like the Jedi order. Like, that's really cool. Why? Why are you such a rebel? Tell me more about that. And we just don't get it. And I think that's the most frustrating thing about it. I I don't understand how your brain works, Bob.

43:17 You don't. I mean, you think we get, you think we get enough fleshed out about him to make his death at the end be, like, as impactful as it could be? Yes. OK, like, like, again, I'm not knocking the performance. I'm not knocking the character design. I just think he's underwritten. Is he underwritten? Question tangential question. What would it take to make you happy, Brad? Like, I feel like I'm giving you a lot here and I'm like, here's my issue with this character. I'm going to elucidate it as clearly as I can. And then you're like, you're just crazy. Like, I don't, I don't know, man. Like, if you don't think he's underwritten, like, what's your reasoning for thinking that he is in fact fully fleshed out? I think I feel so flabbergasted by it is because I've never like the idea of Qui Gon being underwritten is so far from my consciousness.

44:14 I've never even thought about it. Like it's that just ridiculous to me. I here's the thing with Qui Gon. He is in a lot of ways the main character of this movie. Like we spend most of the movie with him. The like the majority of the film is learning how he thinks about the world. And it's through him that we get the lens of what we think Jedis ought to be like for the rest of the Star Wars universe. Like he has the viewpoint that the most important thing we do is listen to the Force and like he says that constantly throughout the film. And so I once again, I feel like. I feel like you're asking for telling more than showing. Like for me, Qui Gon Jin shows you what it means to be a Jedi. All of the other Jedi in this film. Samuel Jackson, Yoda.

45:15 Kiadi Mundi Pocoon. Not that I know all their names or anything. I was going to say, are you just making up sounds now? No. No. So the the large skulled conehead Jedi is Ki Adi Mundi. Sure, the one with the gas mask is PLO Coon. OK. Yeah, of course. Anyways. Stands to reason. It stands to reason anyways. All of them show up where on chorus and they're all wrapped up in the politics of the realm. And Qui Gon is held up as this paragon of like he listens to the Force and trusts it to do what what it needs to do. And I and I think that that's like the beautiful thing about Qui Gon And you know I'm going to take the movie out of the the vacuum for a second to say like Duel of the Fates write the song at the end of the film.

46:15 It's about the fate of Anakin Skywalker and the fate of the Force. And the duel is will Qui Gon live or Will Qui Gon die? Because if Qui Gon doesn't die, he goes on to mentor Anakin in the ways of the force and possibly like doesn't become Darth Vader. And so that I I think that's why for me Qui Gon represents this super impactful character within the universe that is incredibly well acted and I think well written and I so I I guess I don't know is that a cogent defense of why I.

46:56 Think he's actually a? Really well written character. I I think it is. And I I do still think that sometimes you're confusing like my displeasure with, you know, the lack of dialogue or the lack of monologues that flesh out the characters backs, whatever, with like an inability of me to see the function of the character. Like, I think you're absolutely right. Qui Gon sets the template for what a Jedi should be for the rest of this prequel trilogy. And you're right, overarching like Star Wars. I just wish that we got like, you know, one scene of Obi Wan being like, hey man, like what's what's driving?

47:36 Why are you insisting on this kid being the chosen one and him being like, you know, it, it sends me back to what I was about. Like just give me something that like, fleshes him out a little bit, 'cause I want, I think it's the highest compliment for me to say I want to spend more time with him. And what pisses me off is that we don't, we don't get that time. And I felt, I don't know, I just didn't feel like it was. His story was completed before the rug got pulled out from under us, both him and Darth Maul give us, give us another half movie with them, kill them in the middle of the second one. It'll be even more shocking, You know what I mean? Sure. Yeah. I, I, I I think that's the beauty of the movie is you don't get everything you want. I I don't know.

48:20 I think we should. I love. I think we should drink whiskey too. We've been going for 45 minutes, Bob. All right, let's get to it, Brett. All right. So today we are checking out Calumet Farm Single Rack Black Bourbon Whiskey. This is a 14 year old product, Brad, I think it's the first Calumet we've ever had on the podcast. Is that right? Yeah, as far as I know. But who knows? I've drank a lot of whiskey. Yeah, so have I. My friend, I keep seeing Calumet all over the place. It is you know for the most part a premium brand and these like 12/14/15 sixteen year expressions that sit on the top shelf would tell me that they are ultra premium. Now because this is the first time we've had the brand on the show, I'll I'll give a little bit of back story. As far as I know Calumet is a non distilling producer so they release whiskeys but they don't distill them themselves. They partner with a distillery they say that is also in Kentucky.

49:20 It looks like it's it's called Western Spirits. So they're sourcing this whiskey. It's like super premium small batch. I'm reading something right now that says that this particular product is from a small batch of only 19 barrels. So they're all from a single center cut rack from. And this is a quote, Brad, from the ideal maturation location and conditions inside the Rick house, I mean. Obviously it's ideal, Bob. What else would it be? We picked suboptimal conditions for this limited release. Yeah, so they. I love when people like ask directors or something like, you know, what's a, what's one of your movies you made that you didn't like? And it's like, dude, I like all my movies.

50:02 All my movies were cut from an ideal condition. Every time they're like, was Timothy Chalonet your first choice? Like what are they going to say? Like, no, I wanted. I wanted Tobey Maguire or something like no, like. It's just it's the same thing in sports Like like, oh, the quarterback, was he your first choice? No, no, he was not sure wasn't. I hope he can go kick rocks. OK, so 19 barrels all from the same rack in the same Rick house. This is clocking in at 96.2 proof. I do not have mashbill, you know, breakdowns here, Brad. So it could be weeded, it could be high rye. I have no idea. Yeah. This is 74% corn, 18% rye, 8% malted bar. Oh thanks man. So it is not weeded and it is high ish rye. Yeah, let's dive in.

50:48 Yeah, I as I got into the nose on this, it's a decent nose. I got some orange zest, some dark chocolate. The overarching note for me though, or I should say the over oaking note, was oak. There is so much oak on this, and I just I, I, I I am repeating what the whiskey world has said for decades. But the fact that bourbon has to be aged in new white oak, American white oak barrels means that you can't go much past 10 to 12 years without it becoming wildly over oak. And I'm going to say something, my own preference, Brad, through the years.

51:29 I sometimes think even 10 years is too much. Like, yeah, especially if you're drinking barrel strength whiskey, like if we get a good Knob Creek 10 or 12, I think those are too oaky Most of the time. I just do. But so, like, you know, take your Pappy 23 and do whatever you want with it. But like, that's too freaking long in a barrel for bourbon. It just is. Yeah, no, I I'm with you because this is a heavily oaked nose. I'll give it a 7 1/2. I I think that there's some nice stuff going on here, but I I'm worried I'll. I'll just say that. Yeah, there's some really nice baking spices under here. It's like baked apples a little bit, but the oak is so heavy that it almost turns sour on the nose.

52:10 It's like it doesn't smell like char or ash. It's just it's almost like that toasted barrel thing that we don't like on a lot of toasted barrel finishes. Brad, so I'm with you. I'm gonna give it a 7 1/2 and I think the flavor is kind of a similar story. Like it's a really, really solid tasting whiskey that just has way too much oak that comes in on the back part of the pallet and into the finish. I I mean, I don't know. Where are you falling on the pallet here? It's it's it's decent. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. There's oak, the the char really comes through for me. There's some vanilla notes. I I almost felt like it was almost like a Sour Patch Kid kind of vibe that I was getting.

52:53 But there there's not enough complexity for me. Like I can tell that it's a well made whiskey, but it's not a very flavorful whiskey. Yeah. And I I don't know if that's like a a huge insult to say you you did a good job making it and then there was no flavor. But that's kind of where I'm at. The fact that it is a well made whiskey. I'll still give it a 7 out of 10. I just, I just want more out of it. It's an underwritten character. It is. If I it is the. Quigon of whiskeys. It looks really cool and I want to learn more about it, but damn it, it under delivers, so it's.

53:34 Just not enough there. I I actually think that the flavor is a little bit better than the nose, but then I think like OK I gave the nose a 7 1/2 Is this an 8 on the palate? And I don't think it is. So I think I'm still going to give it a 7 1/2. But like you know, dear listener, in your mind, I want you to think of it as like a 7.51, you know what I mean? All right man, you give it a 7.51 and the nose of 7.4. Nine. There it is. Yeah. It balances out perfectly. We have brought balance to the force. You were supposed to bring balance to the Force. On the finish I'm I'm kind of surprised because there is that oakiness but then it dissipates really quickly. I think there's a there's a bit of a chest burn it drinks a little bit hotter than 96 proof like I would have thought this was in the like 104105 range.

54:20 It's really nice. It's a nice finish. I just again, if there's nothing really distinctive about it and there's nothing that screams you should pay triple digits for this. So like, yeah, maybe the value or you know what will be the value score is kind of tainting my my score's here a little bit, but like this is fine. I'm going to give it a 6 1/2 on the finish. Yeah, I I give it a six on the finish it it falls off. It doesn't last as long as you might think, but it is only in the 90s proof, I think 96 proof. It's OK balance wise. I give it A7 like I I think what they're trying to do here, they accomplish. I'm just not super impressed with it. Man, what a perfect pairing for the Star Wars prequels, I tell you.

55:06 What a terrible pairing for the Star Wars prequels. All right. I think we're pretty much in lockstep. I'm going to give this A7 as well. Why don't you take us to our value score, Brad, What will a bottle of this cost you? Well, I mean at this point it's on their own website, Bob. They have at the bottom of the the stats sheet availability level and the availability level of this is low slash rare. Technically it's an MSRPI believe of $120.00. I would so I don't normally do this Bob, but I'm going to do it. I drank this Calumet earlier today. Right now I am currently drinking a bottle of Barrel Rye private release that we purchased at the Kentucky Berlin Barrel.

55:57 Yeah, I'll I'll just say this. I think we paid like $85 for that bottle, $90.00. I would pay $120.00 for that bottle. I would never pay $120.00. No, I gave it a 2 out of 10 to be nice, but this is bad value folks. Listen, it's 14 years old. It's 19 barrels. This is like the absolute minimum that this could possibly cost is like 100 bucks, yes. So I think they're overcharging for it slightly. I don't think that it's like astronomically priced, but it is not. A whiskey that tastes like the flavor of this whiskey is not worth $120.00.

56:41 I'm going to be a little bit kinder than Brad. I'm going to give it a 4 1/2 on the value. But again, that's just because I think it's like in the range that it should be based on the market. Yeah, no, 100%. Like I think Calumet is doing really interesting things here, like to make ultra select. We're only taking 19 barrels and figuring out what we can do with them. Like it's It's interesting the juice is not worth triple digits. I'm coming to a 33 out of 50. Brad, what are you at? 29.5. 29 Wow. It's been a minute since we've had one in the 20s, so we're coming to just a 31.25 out of 50. Folks, this is what we do here.

57:22 Like, you know, we're not here to poo poo whiskeys. But I feel very strongly Brad, as a guy who has limited funds and I I believe you do as well. Otherwise you should have been paying for a lot more throughout the course of our friendship that we have a responsibility to tell people when we think something is overpriced or just not even overpriced but just not worth the money in, in terms of just pure flavor. And I think this is one of those, one of those times. I'm I'm very grateful to our friend Wes for sending us a sample of this, but I I would not purchase this for myself. Brad. Wes is incredible. Bob, I have a very important question for you. Yes. Was the $5 bag worth the value that you got? What?

58:03 What's the value score on that bag? The return on investment of just the story itself was worth at least ten $5 Taco Bell bags. That's. Good. Thanks. I appreciate that. Yeah, let's get back into you calling me an idiot for not understanding Star. Wars. Maybe our friendship is sellable. Maybe. All right, everybody. That was Calumet 14 year single rack Black. A whiskey that I will give a black mark to. Here, here, here, here, here. You know what? I would not give a black mark to Bob. What's that, Brad?

58:44 Canada's favorite segment 2 Facts and a Falsehood. Brad is going to try to stump your ball. 2 All right and what is wrong? 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and A Falsehood is the part of the podcast where Brad presents me with three items as fact about the making of this movie, one of which is a complete lie, and I have to suss out which one that is. I'm a little nervous today, man. You know a lot about this movie, so I think you could very easily just make up some more words about how, you know BLARF in the Hut did a whole bunch of stuff. And I I'm just going to think that it's it's accurate. I don't like, I thought about just letting you have this one. But I got screwed over by our friend Noah Guttel last week who saddled me with two losses on Armageddon. So I went from 8:00 and 2:00 to 8:00 and. Four, just like that.

59:38 I'm in a precarious position here, man. Yeah, I'm glad for it. All right, man, hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. Fact number one. In an early version of Luke's script for The Phantom Menace, there was a subplot involving a young Wookiee named Warka, who was intended to be a companion of the young Anakin Skywalker. During his time on Tatooine. However, he was dropped in favor of the one and only Jar Jar Binks. Fact #2 according to Jake Lloyd. There was a six hour cut of the film that was screened for several people before the film was relieved, with those who saw it proclaiming it to be mind bogglingly good. End Quote Fact #3.

1:00:22 Ewan McGregor once stated that before filming began he and Liam Neeson were taken to a private room where two Lucasfilm employees approached them with a long locked wooden box. When opened, they saw 20 various lightsaber hilts, and that they were allowed to choose one of them to be their character's official weapon for the movie. I like how they received their lightsabers as if they were like in the Russian mob. Like they got taken to a shady backroom. Some guy opened a briefcase. Pick your weapon. Oh man. Choose it now. Duh. OK, I feel like #2 is true. I just feel like George Lucas really thought that he had made the Great American film here. It was like, you know what?

1:01:08 Let's do a six hour version that's gonna bring him in. So it's either what? I would watch a six hour version of this movie. You know what, I might actually watch a six hour version of this movie too, 'cause I feel like it certainly can't get any slower than the slow parts of this movie. You you would probably get your your hour and a half that I. Want. Yes, exactly. So it's. I was watching this with Haley and I told her I was like, I could watch like four or five hours of this. What does Haley think of this movie? Oh, she likes it a lot. Fun fact, Haley really likes Jar Jar. She thinks that he is of.

1:01:48 Course she does. Of course she likes Jar Jar. Literally Everything that I like, she thinks sucks. And literally everything that I'm like, that's not for me. It it's for Haley. We are the Yin and Yang, holding the universe together. Usually hyperbolic speech is like obviously false, but it is I. Don't know for so far off. Oh, man. OK, so it's either one or three. Three. Sounds pretty true as well. Remind me of what number one was again. That there was a a companion for Anakin. Called Wiki, Yeah. Yeah, but it got dropped for jar jar.

1:02:32 I don't know, man. These are both really good. I think 3 sounds true, so I'm tempted to say one is the falsehood, but I don't freaking know, man. Yeah, I'll just go with my gut. I'm gonna say one is the falsehood here. Bob, you are on a streak of trusting your gut. Cause number one is the falsehood. Oh. Hey, all right, cool. I thought you were going to say I'm on a streak of losing. No, you're not. You've been nailing it this this season for two facts and a falsehood. Here's my here's my reasoning. I figured that George Lucas was so bought into Jar Jar Binks that there could not have been another version like from the get go. He was like, no, no, this is the thing that works about this movie.

1:03:16 Like we have to stick with it. This is the one thing that makes sense to me in this crazy messed up universe. Misa Love Jar Jar Binks. Here. Here's one thing I I will say about Jar Jar. I would encourage you to watch George Lucas's interview where he talks about the racism complaints about Jar Jar because frankly I I think it's ridiculous and. The racism complaint is ridiculous. Or. Yes. Oh, OK. There's there's nothing about the character that was meant to be, or I think is racist about it, but I'll leave that. Let it be known we're taking a principled stand here at film and Whiskey Jar Jar Binks.

1:04:02 Not. Racist, not racist character. This episode has gone so much differently that I would have expected it to go. This is my favorite episode we've. Ever. I'm sure it is, man. Talk about cone headed Jedi's and stuff. Can we talk about the pod race, please, for the love of God? OK, so this is what I was most excited to talk to you about because it is by far the best piece of filmmaking in this movie. Everything builds to this and I think it builds for even too long, but it still pays off. And my question to you, Brad G, is now that you have seen in full the film Ben Hur, does it make you appreciate the pod race more or does it make you feel a little bit like I have now seen how the sausage is made and I can tell that Lucas kind of ripped it off a bit here.

1:04:49 No. OK. I think that for a new era and a new generation, this is the Ben Hur race. Like, like, yes, there are there. It's a very clear through line from Ben Hur to The Phantom Menace and I'm a OK with that. Like like I I think that's part of the fun of doing this podcast is that now I can watch The Phantom Menace and go oh oh Ben Hur. That one of the best race scenes I've ever seen put to film. Followed up by The Phantom Menace 50 years later. One of the best race scenes I've seen put to film also on a desert.

1:05:29 Also great sound design. Great visuals. I I'm here for it, man. I thought it was excellent and I also thought that it did the best job of covering up how bad some of the CGI is in in 1999 and we'll get into talking about before we get out of here. Brad, I do want to talk about the CGI a little bit, but even at this early stage of fully CG characters, Lucas uses it to great effect in this scene because you can cover up shoddy CGI if you make it fly by at like 300 miles an hour. And I think that that's really like the key to the scene is like you put a camera inside the, you know, the cockpit, whatever you want to call the seat with Jake Lloyd. And there's like minimal CG that you focus on. Like it's all there, but it's whizzing by so fast that it's like it looks, it looks like a real environment. And I think that it's like it is so clearly defined like what the geography of this racetrack is that at a certain point you're going to have the what are the bandits called that shoot at them.

1:06:31 The the Sand people. Yes, yeah. Like, you know, they're gonna come around this curve, they're gonna get shot at, they're gonna go through this cave. A guy's gonna hit this like, stalagmite thing and blow up like it's it's very clearly laid out for you. And there's character saying at every point like this is how many laps they have to go. This is who's in what place in the race. The only complaint, Brad, that I have with that whole sequence is like I know that Jedi Knights are like stoic people, but qui gon my guy? And Shmi can you just like cheer a little? Like I have never seen such disinterested spectators at a sporting event in my whole life. I mean, I think that Qui Gon should be disinterested. That's who the Jedi are.

1:07:13 I think that Shmi does a decent job of showing emotion. Like, like, there's a few moments where she kind of gasps and grabs her mouth, and I can easily see a world where a mother isn't, like, weeping in fear. She's, like, shocked in fear. But but I'm. I'm with you. She doesn't show much emotion. Qui Gon's off the hook. He he's not supposed to show emotion. Listen, Qui Gon is allowed to bet some money on the side on the Celtics to win the title and stuff like like just let him say a fan. Of something? Qui Gon was spending all of his emotion on secret glances between him and SH me. Alright man, he didn't have any. What's? Going on underneath that robe. That's my question.

1:07:56 All right, so we have we have touched lightsaber. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope. We have touched on the pod race. We need to talk in a little bit. Go ahead. Hold on, pod. Race, Yeah. The writing of the pod race is incredible. Yeah, I just said that. No, but but even just like the structure of it, right? Lap #1, Anakin gets stuck and we follow everybody else and learn the dangers of the course. Lap #2, we spend the whole time between Sebulba destroying his opponents and Anakin, you know, showing off how skilled he is and, you know, proving all the things that were said about him, that he's this great, oppression, precocious pod racer.

1:08:42 And then lap three is the showdown, and it's just incredible writing of an action scene. And I think that's that's George Lucas for me like like he has lots of flaws. He has a lot of places where he's like AC to AB Plus director. But his action sequences, I think he is a legendary all time Hall of Fame director and the pod races that in this film. For sure. Like no notes on that man. OK I do want to talk CGI for a second because the I don't I feel like I've said this, I'm I am a nerd and I'm very weird and I acknowledge this. But like I feel like every digital CGI house has their kind of house style of like when you're watching Lord of the Rings like you know what works really well from weta digital, you know what they're good at.

1:09:37 Like the the the translucency of the skin on Golem is like next level stuff that no one else was doing. When you watch like Pixar, you know what Pixar is really good at? Like even from the get go in toy. Story Piper Short. Oh yeah, photo realistic. But like, even even in the original Toy Story where the humans look horrifying, like their ability to replicate textures and wood grains and things like that, it's it's next level. Industrial Light and magic. There has always been something weird to me about their CGI. It never ever fully works for me and like the the things just seem rubbery and they don't seem like they're actually like part of the environment. They feel like they're slapped in front like they have a completed shot and instead of making the the thing seem like it's a part of the depth of the shot it just seems like they held a puppet up in front of it and like this doesn't.

1:10:27 It doesn't always work for me but what I will say Brad in the in favor of this movie is that Lucas was doing a lot of on location shooting and and you know by episode 3 you've got environments that are like it's just a guy on a blue screen and everything is CGI. In this movie in particular, especially like that final battle scene where you've got like the Droid army kind of coming over the hill. It's like, it sounds stupid to be like, oh, that's a real hill, but I love the way that the the camera shots are designed to take place in a real world setting and then the CGI is placed into that real world setting instead of just we're going to construct everything inside of a computer.

1:11:11 Because I think this movie could look a hell of a lot worse than it does if George was using his Episode 3 mindset here. Sure. I I mean, I'll say this about the CGI. What year did Shrek come out? 2001, 2002. Tell me that this doesn't look 10 times better than Shrek CGI. Like, yeah, although if you put Shrek in this movie, he would probably be a believable character on on Naboo. Shut up, Bob. Get the heck out of here. Here's here's the deal with the CG I I think that the advancement of technology has done this movie no favors. I think that in 1999 it looked pretty solid. I'm not going to say it was like great, but I think it looked pretty good in 99 and it advanced the medium of CGI in in important ways.

1:12:09 And I that I say that as somebody who hates CG. I I I think it's garbage. I think in this movie it's OK. I think in the second and third film it gets kind of ridiculous. And I think for the same reason that you said like there's you can still tell there's a tactile nature to a lot of this movie that's really beautiful. And. And I think that the other reason I'm a kind of OK with the CGI is that so many of the wide shots of Naboo and Tatooine and Coruscant are just gorgeous. Like like they are immaculately beautiful shots of these planets. And it and it sets up just this really cool world that Lucas is inhabiting with all these weird creatures.

1:12:57 And I think that 4 KTVS and even like Blu rays to a point. Like they don't do the aging of this film any favors. I think that if you were watching this on Avhs or an early DVD in like 2001, I don't think your complaints about the CGI would be as pronounced. All right, cool. And that's not me saying that you like you're wrong. I I just think that. No, no, no. I'm with. I'm with you, man. Yeah, I mean, listen, Jurassic Park looked years ahead of its time on DVD and VHS, and now on 4K. It's like, Oh yeah, like this is starting to finally look old, You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, 100%.

1:13:38 But also Jurassic. And I'm saying this during a Star Wars review, Bob, Jurassic Park is a perfect. It's a perfect movie. It's so good. All right, Brad, it is time for us to get to our last segment of the day, which we call. Let's make it a double. We're near the end of the episodes of Things Listening to the Film and Whiskey show. Let's favor another film with this one, even if it's struggling. It's a final segment of the day. Now let's make it a double. Let's make it a double is the part of the podcast where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature. Brad, would you like to go first or do you want me to go first? Bob, of all the weeks, I I literally didn't even know that we did this segment.

1:14:20 Like that's how unprepared I am. Well, it it's really funny that you finally decided to go to a movie and see Dune because I am going to pair this movie with the first Dune, not the second one. I think it would be unfair to pair it with the second one because I think the first Dune is significantly more flawed than Dune 2, agreed. I just, you know, when I'm thinking about world building sci-fi epics that take place mostly on sand, it really limits my choices here. But I think that you could do a heck of a lot worse than looking at what Lucas built in his. And I don't mean this in a bad way. It's a very kid friendly, ultimately optimistic, bright, pretty happy movie versus like what Denis Villeneuve is doing with Dune, which is a huge downer of a series.

1:15:11 Like do you know what I mean? And I think it'd be like a fun pairing in that, like you can see what audiences wanted in 1999 and what they responded to versus what they responded to in 2019 or whenever the hell Dune came out. So yeah, man, that's my pick. Dune One and Star Wars One. Yeah, I I think that's actually a great pick, Bob. I am gonna jump back about five years from The Phantom Menace, and I'm going to pick a movie that I think thematically and stylistically feels somewhat similar in the sense of adventure and fun that it brings. I'm going to pick 1994's Stargate.

1:15:52 I think that that would be a really, oh, such a fun movie. I think it would be a really fun evening of like 90s cinema to just sit down and enjoy Stargate and Star Wars. Brad, I have AI have a quiz, a pop quiz for you. How many Oscars do you think that Episode One was nominated for? Oh, I am going to guess. Can I can I go like through a few categories? Sure. Maybe this is a reach, maybe best supporting actor for for Liam Neeson. Partially. I guess that because Liam's like established on the scene, I'm guessing best visual effects, best sound effects or sound design.

1:16:42 Is it? Is it sound design? Yeah, they actually had two categories for sound back then. There was sound effects editing and then there was just best sound. Oh, I would. I would guess they'd be nominated for both. I don't know. We'll say two thinking through that. I'm guessing like 4 to 6 something in that range. 33 And it went over 3, Brad, because it was going up against a little movie that used the CGI significantly better called The Matrix. The Matrix won for Best Visual Effects, it won for Best Sound, and it won for Best Sound Effects Editing. So it lost to the same movie in all three categories. See, I I will say a an avid 10 out of 10 love.

1:17:27 Like, I think that The Matrix might be the best science fiction movie of all time. I I love that movie. I don't actually qualify Star Wars a science fiction, but that's just me being a genreist. I would say loving The Matrix. I think that the sound design, whatever the the more technical version of sound is, I think that I think that Star Wars is better. There's just so much beauty to the sound design in this film. Like even beyond the pod race, which I think is a master class in sound design. There's just so many incredible moments of of lightsabers and the the sounds of the the blasters on the ships.

1:18:14 Ah man, yeah, the sound design in this is better than the Matrix overall score. Maybe not. But how did you got to do all the fates, Bob? You do have Duel of the Fates, Brad. That's true. 99 What a year for movies. I'm going to run down a couple here, Brad. American Beauty wins Best Picture, also competing in Best Picture. You've got The Cider House Rules, Green Mile, The Insider and The 6th Sense. You've got movies such as Let's go through some of these. Hilary Swank wins her Oscar for Boys Don't Cry. Angelina Jolie wins Best Supporting Actress for a Girl Interrupted. Being John Malkovich comes out this year, Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia.

1:18:54 You've got let's see what else Disney comes out with Tarzan this year. It's just a really, really great year. Fight Club comes out this year. What a great year for movies, man. Your your favorite film of the. Year. My favorite film. You even have a a nomination here for Best Makeup for the second Austin Powers movie and a Best Sound nomination for The Mummy, which I freaking rock with, man, I love The Mummy. I have not seen any of the the Austin Powers movies and I have not seen The Mummy. Oh man, not. No wonder why you like this movie so much. Brad, we've got to expose you to good cinema here. Brad, it's time for final scores. I'm going to go first because you're going to hate me. I told you this the other day though. Like I told you, I was falling somewhere between A5 and A6 on this movie and it is an infuriating movie to score because I don't dislike it.

1:19:45 But there are just so many stretches of this movie that I think are just actively bad, coupled with many sequences of some of the best sci-fi and action film making I have ever seen and it just is is just thrown together in a pot and makes the most weird tasting Stew I've ever encountered. It's like man, I'm going to give it AI want to say 5 1/2. I'm not going to give it a 5 1/2, and the only reason why is because we also gave. Back to the Future five and A halfs across the board. And I don't want, I don't want to insinuate that I like this movie on the same level as that. So I'm going to give it a six out of 10, but no higher.

1:20:31 That's disappointing. I think you gave the original Star Wars like a 7 out of 10, which is bonkers. I'm at a nine out of 10 Bob. I think that this film has so much going for it. There's so much charm if you want to subscribe to like auteur theory. I think that Lucas is doing exactly what he wants to do here to set up the rest of the series. Like so many fans were disappointed with The Phantom Menace because it featured a child, Anakin. And I think that when you look at the the series as a whole, it it works beautifully because you have that innocence and that childlike nature stamped in your memory.

1:21:17 Because who could ever forget Jake Lloyd saying Yippee right Like it's stamped in your memory? Pod racing. Oh man. I love it, Yeah, I love it. I don't even care that he says that. I'm like, good for you, man. I I think that overall, Lucas did exactly what he wanted to hear. The sound design is incredible. The the world's that you visit are gorgeous and beautiful. The the even just the the introduction of the Gungans and the Naboo is like every other planet you've ever been to. Is just like aliens and humans coexisting and and you don't really know, like are any of these natives to the world or are they just all transplants like here for the first time you get like, no, the Naboo are from here and the Gungans are from here and they've coexisted, you know, very tenuously for centuries and you feel that history.

1:22:16 There's just so much going on here that's just wonderful and fun and I love it. And it's a nine out of 10. All right folks, there you have it. Brad has completely gone off the rails and given this movie a nine out of 10. I'm giving it a six out of 10 and I really regret not giving it the five and a half that it deserved. So we are coming to a 7.5 on average, but we'd like to know what you think. Where are you landing on The Phantom Menace 25 years after its release? You can let us know on all of our social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or you can give us a follow on Discord.

1:22:56 We are on there every single day talking to you guys, the fans of the Film and Whiskey Podcast. So if you'd like to join the conversation, you can find a link at the end of every single one of our show notes. Next week Brad, a film that we will be united in our hatred for. I'm predicting the truly God awful Ron Howard film, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We're watching this literally the week of Easter, so we are way off in our timing on this one, but there's no time like the present to review whatever this is Brad, so join us next week for that. But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G. And we'll see you next time.